What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

I guess the fireworks Zadok mentioned were the only pyrotechnic observance of the Lateran Pacts… other than the very fine lunch we had today (being a house run by the Holy See).

In the meantime, here is a nice photo of the mosaics in S. Maria in Domnica which I visited tonight with a very good friend.

And then a detail from the mosaic.

Fireworks in the vault of a Roman church if not in the Roman heavens.

However, here is one from last year:


 

Sometimes I check my stats to see where in the world people are when they visit the blog. 

I mean that geographically, of course.  That doesn’t mean I don’t wonder about where they are ecclesiologically, psychologically….  But I digress.

Today I did a little double take:

Jamestown, North Dakota
Jamestown, North Carolina

It is very disturbing to see things like

Unknown Country

... from whose bourn no traveller returns, ("unknown" is lame-duck ICEL for "undiscover’d")

It is very humbling to see things like…

Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant
Kista, Stockholms Lan
Little Falls, Minnesota
London, Lambeth
Dresden, Sachsen
Santa Cruz De La Palma

...and realize that you are all looking at the same things in those far-flung places of the globe.